


white noise (what an awful sound)

by far2late



Series: see thine soul [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Apologies, Arguing, Blind Character, Blind Tim Drake, Blind!Tim, Blindness, Fix-It of Sorts, Hurt/Comfort, Kon-El | Conner Kent-centric, M/M, Protective Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake is Bad at Self-Care, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric, fluff at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24890842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/far2late/pseuds/far2late
Summary: "After the disastrous dinner hadn’t gone as planned, Tim’s immediate reaction is to go to the one place he really feels safe now. His own home isn’t the same since he had been blinded in the accident, not really. It’s just reminders of the life he used to lead and what he’s going to miss out on from now on. The walls of his home are lined in photographs and it broke his heart to even consider the fact that he won’t be able to cherish those photos the same way he did before."ortim and kon argue a little, apologize, and love.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Series: see thine soul [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790479
Comments: 9
Kudos: 164





	white noise (what an awful sound)

Tim and Kon have a relationship that isn’t exactly defined by words as cushy as “boyfriend.”

The connection that they have is something along the lines of knowing where the other is without speaking and finding a way to speak without words. Their touches are highlighted by skin-on-skin contact that turns either of the two soft and mushy in their hands. It’s like… finding themselves breathing fresh air after a lifetime of smog and smoke. 

Kon and Tim have always been connected in a way that others never really understood. It wasn’t expected that someone like Kon would have the patience to stay with Tim throughout the timeline of his recovery, but it was simply faith in Tim’s abilities as a person and a superhero that had kept him happy and proud of his bird. It was paired with the fact that he refused to baby Tim throughout the therapy he had to undergo as well, which was frustratingly helpful in the long run. 

Tim and Kon had fallen for each other a very long time before any of this had come to fruition, even before his death. The effect that it had on the two’s relationship was major, but it was slowly being worked through by the both of them and their efforts to keep the beautiful thing they had thriving with each other. 

After the disastrous dinner hadn’t gone as planned, Tim’s immediate reaction is to go to the one place he really feels safe now. His own home isn’t the same since he had been blinded in the accident, not really. It’s just reminders of the life he used to lead and what he’s going to miss out on from now on. The walls of his home are lined in photographs and it broke his heart to even consider the fact that he won’t be able to cherish those photos the same way he did before. 

No, instead he makes his way over to Kon’s place somewhere in Metropolis, despite the long trip it took to get there. Maybe two or three hours by shuttle bus, and despite the luck he had in Gotham when it came to the authorities, he wasn’t going to push it in the “Golden City” Kon inhabited. 

Kon’s had been more of a home the past few months than Gotham had felt like. Tim could never leave Gotham if he ever wanted to, not truly. He couldn’t up and move Red Robin’s area of operations and have Timothy Drake follow afterwards, it was practically handing the public his secret identity on a silver platter. The weekly trips he would take to see Kon were more than enough to have the lofty apartment he stayed in feel more like a place to live than Gotham ever could, though. The travel there was usually speedy, with help from Kon, but sometimes public transit was relaxing in the long run. 

It’s what led Tim to the bus stop nearly two hours after the dinner initially took place. He tapped his foot restlessly against the concrete as he waited for the bus at the bus stop, jittery from being out in the open with nothing to keep him safe aside from his own sensors. He had them on his wrists and ankles, but he feels naked without the mask that hides his torn-up eyes, the blindfold feeling like a target on his back rather than a comfort. 

The blindfold had been a curse at first, the cloth resting on the bridge of his nose supplied by Ra’s leading to another reminder of what he had sacrificed for the Mission. It was a reminder of a life he shouldn’t have had to lead, something that would have killed him in the long-run and should have destroyed his will in the short-term. 

When he returns to Gotham as Timothy Drake, it’s a blessing that keeps him away from the company. He had claimed that the time away was simply recovering from eye surgery and he hadn’t wanted anyone to see the state he was in afterwards. It was easy enough to forge a doctor’s note that excused him from meetings in-person, and Timothy Drake was really just a figurehead for their company. Someone to hold the conferences and that the public could speak to. 

The year that had passed without any appearances was only dismissed by the fact that he had still been completing all the work required and more. It was the addition of college that completely dismissed his removal from the meetings in person, claiming that juggling a college education and a company was too much work, subtly passing over the reins to Bruce when it came to public appearances, yet still keeping the company up and running by pulling the strings behind the scenes, with help from Tam and Lucius. 

The blindfold turns into a mask that he can wear to hide what his accident did and prove to himself that he was still capable of what he was able to do before the accident. Disgustingly poetic, but it worked to keep his identity hidden in the meantime and no one in Gotham really questioned anything that much anymore, so it was okay in the long-run. 

In some semblance of mercy, the bus stops only a few minutes later, and after a quick confirmation from the bus driver, it’s the right one. He can’t really read the bus numbers by himself anymore, so the polite bus drivers he chances upon in Gotham are a blessing. Maybe the choice in friendly personnel was paired with the fact that the shuttle had gone back and forth between Metropolis and Gotham had something to do with it, but it was just inference. 

  
Tim settled down in the back, waiting for the quiet beeping in his ear to subside as he passed the aisles until he reached an empty seat. He pressed himself against the very side, resting his head on the cool window as he pulled out his phone, connecting it to the Bluetooth earpiece he had in the other ear, scrolling through his phone with the text-to-voice option guiding him to his music app and one of his more melancholy playlists. 

Once he was all prepped and ready, he shut his eyes with a small sigh, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them loosely. They were half-propped up on the seat in front of him, but his drooping eyelids gave him little notice and he let himself drift into sleep as reverbed bass flooded his mind and eased him into sleep. 

…

When Tim awakens, it's by someone shaking his shoulder gently, startling him to sit up straight in alarm while the voice next to him asks him to calm down a little, reassuring him with a calm voice and informing him the bus had reached its stop and that he should get off if he’s planning on staying in Metropolis. Tim thanked the person quickly, exiting the bus with his bag slung over his shoulder, music sitting forgotten in one ear as he looked around out of habit, seeing nothing but black in the process. After he paused the music, he listened to see if anyone milling around him and heard nothing but quiet car honks from the far distance. It was late at night, anyway, and Tim doubted that anyone would really be here at the early, _early_ hours of the day. 

With a small breath in, Tim called out softly into the empty night, “ _Kon,_ ” and waited. 

After about a moment’s notice, he hears the soft thud of someone’s feet hitting the ground, and an involuntary smile spreads across his face, small as it may be. 

“Kon,” He repeats, swallowing back a lump in his throat as he reached out blindly- no pun intended- for the teen, hands curling into black leather as Kon wrapped his arms around Tim, holding him stupidly close in his arms as Tim held back the urge to bawl into his shirt in public at what must’ve been at least four am at this point. 

Despite the time, he can’t find it in himself to feel tired at all, not at all. He just lets himself be held and holds onto Kon tighter as he felt his feet leave the ground. From there, it’s silence as the two make their way over the city. Tim clung onto the teen as he waited for the two of them to reach Kon’s apartment. 

  
After they touch down in the balcony of Kon’s apartment, Tim was reluctant to let go. Kon seemed to have sensed this, letting the teen hold onto him despite no need for him to do so. Tim felt unusually like a small child in Kon’s arms, but he let the super boy walk him over inside the apartment. 

The two finally settled onto the couch, Tim curling his legs up to his chest as Kon kept an arm around him, waiting for his heavy breathing to settle down before Tim finally spoke up, head flopping to rest on Kon’s shoulder limply. 

“It didn’t go very well,” He said softly, hearing Kon hum quietly as a reply. Tim took a deep breath and continued on in his quiet explanation. “Barely stayed there for twenty minutes and Bruce was already yelling at me about responsibility and shit, didn’t want to bother staying there anymore.” 

“It could’ve gone worse,” Kon surmised, rubbing Tim’s arm up and down comfortingly. “You could’ve been, like… disowned completely. Or kicked out instead of just leaving.” 

Now for Tim, this might have been something that would be comforting any other day. He would’ve been happy to hear the words and take them as a sign of compassion, but at the moment, it sounded more as though he was picking a fight, and if there was anything Tim needed at that point, it was a _fight_. 

“I might as well have been disowned right then and there. He’s barely been a father to me, anyway,” Tim scoffed, tilting his head back with a frown. 

“But, still. He’s your family,” Kon spoke up. Tim could hear the frown on his face and it only served to piss him off further. 

“Family doesn’t tell me that I’m a _liability_ after a year of blindness,” Tim spat out. “Why are you taking their side about this?” 

“Woah woah woah, who said anything about taking _sides_?” Kon protested as Tim sat up where he was sitting, voice growing a little more upset at the sudden shift of conversation. Tim groaned quietly from where he sat, shifting to lie flat on the couch with furrowed eyebrows. 

“I don’t know, okay? I’m sorry, this just- It _sucks._ This family _sucks,_ it’s hardly something I’m proud of. I’d rather not have one if I could at this point, I have such a shitty track record with them.” 

“Well if it’s any help at all, no family isn’t fun at all.” Kon’s voice was bitter as he spoke, though his hands carded through Tim’s hair slowly, as though self-soothing to the best of his abilities. Tim didn’t do much to move the hand but did groan once more at the words. 

“Don’t make this about you, please don’t do this right now,” Tim pleaded, physically bringing his hands up to curl his fingers together in a pleading motion. Kon continued threading his fingers through his hair, though the movements grew agitated. 

“It’s always about you, though, isn’t it? _Your_ family, _your_ shitty problems, _your_ disa-” Kon cut himself off at the last word, hand freezing in Tim’s hair as Tim did as well. The room was practically pin-drop silent before Tim took in a small breath and breathing out quietly to speak. 

“I’m sorry you feel that way about my _disability_.” Tim’s voice dripped with hurt as he spoke, and he could feel Kon’s fingers flinch against his scalp as he continued gently scratching the tips of his fingers against his hair. 

“That’s not… that’s not what I meant,” Kon sighed. “It’s just been a long day, and I… shouldn’t have taken it out on you, either. I know you’ve had a bad one.” Tim shook his head, hands laced together and resting on his stomach. He took a minute to breathe out shakily before continuing to speak. 

“Is the… blind thing? Is it bad for you? Do I make it about myself too much, or something?” Tim asked, immediately gaining protest from Kon. 

“No, I’m sorry, it’s just… Things have been hard, you know? For the both of us. I didn’t mean it. You’re not selfish at all, it’s about the opposite, really. You really do the most for everyone, any time you could. You do anything you can to help someone despite everything you've been going through, and that's not something that makes you _selfish._ It's the opposite. Honestly. I'm sorry, really. I'm just stressed about today.” Tim sighed at the words once more, frowning still. 

“You shouldn’t brush off how selfish I am so easily.” Kon leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead gently. 

“Then stop making me so in love with you,” Kon said softly, a small chuckle coming afterwards as Tim let a smile spread up his face without a second thought. Tim pushed at Kon with a laugh, hands coming up to cover his face as Kon peppered kisses to his face. 

“You’re such a loser,” Tim grinned, gripping Kon’s chin to press a kiss to his lips as he leaned upward. 

“Your loser,” Kon said happily, hand returning to carding through Tim’s hair. Tim hummed in confirmation, eyes shut under his blindfold. 

“We’ll be okay,” Kon said simply. Tim agreed steadily.

**Author's Note:**

> this has been stewing in my mind for a while now, i just lacked the motivation to really start any actual writing on it tbh T-T im here now, tho, if that counts for anything! i really do want to expand on this universe, and my understanding of tim and kons relationship. i do have another idea for damian in the forefront of my mind that ill be putting into this particular universe as a separate plotline if i can develop the premise of this universe properly
> 
> world-building is usually my first thought when it comes to au's like this but ive been focusing more on character interactions for the most part, so this will kickstart a bit more of plot for upcoming installations. for now, just assume everything in this series is chronological. 
> 
> for people reading my klaus fic, in the second hand smoke, it'll be updated soon! im just iffy on how to progress from where i am now. i know where im going but i don't know how to get there, so ill be fixing that up soon. 
> 
> and readers of the small mercies series, expect more stories for that along the way! i will be updating these projects soon, this is just my kickstart to get motivation for my writing once more. i don't want writers block and burn out eating at me, so i hope the past few days without posting haven't been disappointing.
> 
> as for the plot of this one, i hope you guys know that no relationship is free of arguing and completely happy. its actually a good sign if the significant others are arguing sometimes, but not too much or violently. its something essential, really, and tim and on certainly arent the type to back down from fights with the stubborn nature of both. 
> 
> in any case, i hope u enjoyed reading this! i appreciate any comments and kudos that u can offer, it really keeps me going! and shoutout to Lilium_Album23 for being such a loyal reader and commenter, it means the world to me to see ur comments, really. 
> 
> i hope u all have a good day and i didn't bore u with this long ending note. <3


End file.
